The Beatles - All These Years: Volume One: Tune In

I'm often wary of reading books on people or subjects that are so prolific in pop culture; more often than not, you get a summary of information that could have been gleaned from various websites along with lots of empty filler. In the multitude of Beatles "biographies", Tune In is a thrilling standout!

The white dust jacket was a little dirty when delivered.The book itself, was spell-binding. Gives so much insight about how The Beatles grew up and their psyche as children.Also, their unruly teenage years have been described superbly.Must-read for all Beatles fans. Can't wait for Volume Two.

"I declare that the Beatles are mutants, prototypes of evolutionary agents sent by God, endowed with a mysterious power to create a new human species, a young race of laughing freemen," so said the LSD evangelist Timothy Leary a long time ago. A lot of things to a lot of people, the Beatles still enjoy a huge following, their music remains stimulating, and their accomplishments is ever unlikely to be bested.In a new tome on the Beatles titled Tune In, which is the first volume of the trilogy The Beatles: All These Years, Mark Lewisohn, acknowledged as an authority on the Beatles, examines the early days of the group in superb, almost minute detail, likely to give nightmares to even obsessed fans with volumes and volumes of books (roughly 800 book titles devoted to the band) on the Beatles shaking their heads in disbelief.The content is vast as is the massive knowledge of Mark Lewisohn on the subject. In order to construct a monumental and definitive work on John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, the author was not reliant on what he already knew, he also interviewed hundreds of people who knew, or were close to, the Beatles and their families. He even went to the extent of tracking down a friend of John Lennon's father who lives in New Zealand. And it was this family friend who deflated the oft-repeated story that John had to choose between living with his mother, Julia, in Liverpool and his father in New Zealand.Tune In traces the remarkable journey of four unwavering and genuine young men whose natural gifts, combined with distinctive magnetism and intelligence, won hearts and minds. The music they created was a new phenomenon. However, Tune In is not the full story of the Fab Four. It covers just a short period in their extraordinary tale, looking at their family history and childhood, and the years between 1958 - 1962. It is a painstaking work which takes the Beatles to the threshold of stardom, 31 December 1962.A monumental work from a man whose authority on the subject is beyond reproach, Tune In is a must-read book for all fans of the Beatles!

Returned the book.....its old, badly stored and dirty with smudge and dirt marks all over

bien

This book is The Beatles bible.

1. 購入上の注意わたしがamazon.co.jpから購入したのはkindle版のファイルサイズ： 6113 KB紙の本の長さ： 961 ページASIN: B00CQ5R1C2　です。　おかしなことに、タイトルがThe Beatles - All These Years: Volume One, Tune In. Part Two: 1961 and 1962 (English Edition) Kindle版となっています。混乱するのは、Extended Special Edition: という1728ページの書籍が出ていることです。このレビューは、全３巻で刊行予定の　All These Years　シリーズのVolume One, Tune Inです。拡大ヴァージョンではありませんので注意。　kindle版にはこの他にもASIN: B00CNQ9P6E　があってページ数が同じです。現物見てないのでわかりませんが、同じ内容ではないでしょうか？両方買った方からの情報求む。2. 全体の構成　イントロダクションのあと、プロローグ、そして　1957年まで4人の先祖の話から少年時代まで。　1958年から1年ごとに区切られ、1962年末まで。　以上で本文は840ページ。このあと、注、あとがき、クレジット、写真、索引。ちなみに、写真は総ページ数961ページに含まれていません。kindel papaerwhite では全部モノクロですが、他のデバイスではカラーのものはカラーで見られます。貴重な写真もあるものの、大半のファンにとっては見たことのあるものでしょう。3.　ソースと信頼性　まず、ガチガチの事実だけを求める方は、本書は必要ないでしょう。同じ著者によるThe Complete "Beatles" Chronicle（わたしは未見）など、ほかにいくらでもソースはあります。本書の持ち味は、著者自身によるインタビュー、ラジオ音源などを豊富に使っていることです。　ニール・アスピナル、ビートルズのロード・マネージャーであり、Anthology プロジェクトの中心人物です。ビートルズのことをメンバー以上に知っている人物です。本書の取材のために協力を惜しまず、著者の信頼する人物です。しかし！　ニール自身から話を聞き始めようとした時、亡くなってしまうのです。ですから、おそらくニールの知っていた事実で、本書で新しく発見できたことは、ほとんどないでしょう。残念なことです。　新しい発見よりむしろ、不明な点は不明、関係者の記憶があいまいな点はあいまいであると、書かれているのが本書の長所だと思います。　なお、元メンバーから、つまりリンゴやポールからはオーソライズされていません。でもポールは連絡をとってくれているし、ヨーコさんも多少協力しているようです。4. それでは、どんな本なのか　伝記です。伝記本。英文学の伝統的な伝記本。　ということは、最初から最期まで通読すべき本です。デイヴィッド・カパフィールドのような小説のように読むべき本です。実際、リッチー少年の話など、19世紀のような悲惨な話で、彼らの少年時代ってのは、ずっと19世紀に近い時代なんですね。さまざまな偶然が重なるのも小説のようだし、主要人物が突然死んでいくのも小説のよう。それに、この第1巻の登場人物は、基本的に善人で、主人公たちを見守り、協力する話ですからね。（悪役はむしろジョンとポールですねえ。ピート・ベストは悲劇の脇役）　もちろん、セックス、ドラッグの話も出てきます。しかし、70年代に書かれた暴露物とはまったく違います。70年代80年代にあふれたスキャンダルさえ書けば真実だと主張する本や、その反対にジョンを神格化するような本ではなく、家族や友人や協力者を含めた全体像を描く作品です。1990年代からの資料本の傾向として、ビートルズの人間関係などではなく、彼らの残した音楽・音源をまず聴け！　というのは正しい方向だったと思います。しかし、ファッションやファンや性関係を含めて全体像を過不足なく描こうというのが、本書の基調です。関係者のほとんど物故した現在、基本的な伝記を残しておきたいというのが著者の執筆動機です。　以上のことを了解したうえで、じっくり読んでください。ただ、やっぱりビートルズの音楽と当時のポップ・ミュージックに興味がないと、読み続けていくのはつらいでしょう。彼らの影響を受けた曲が何百曲も出てきます。いつ、どういう経緯で、どんな影響を受けたかがくわしく書かれています。ライブの曲目や自作曲に関しても、びっくりするような話がいっぱいありますよ。（あの、タイトルの由来や歌詞の解釈が論争になっている曲の新事実！？）4. 今後の巻への期待と不安　第2巻が2020年発行と予告されていますが、予定どおり進むんでしょうかねえ？　こんな不安がよぎるのは、この巻の1962年の量が285ページもあることです。たしかに、1962年は多事多難な年でした。でも、まだLove Me Doのシングルが出ただけですよ。この後、ブリテン全域のツアー、アルバム録音、テレビ出演、など続くわけです。このくらいの密度でいったら、1963年から1967年までで、1500ページ？　全3巻の予定が全4巻に変更されそうな不安があります。それに、こちらは最期の巻まで生きていないだろうけれど、著書も健康に気をつけてほしいものです。5. kindle版の特徴　kindleは通読するには、ずっとよいでしょう。写真の鮮明度も問題なし。注はポップアップで出てきます。　問題は索引。書籍版では26ページですが、小さいタイポでぎっしり文字が並んでいるのではないでしょうか。kindleのほうでは一覧できないのがつらい。でも紙版でも目が痛くなりそう。　X-Ray機能はあんまり役にたたない。むしろ、書籍内検索のほうが、人物名からの検索には便利（ただし、同姓、同名の人物がいっぱいいるので混乱する場合もあり）。　kindleで便利なのは、ハイライト機能。不明なところをハイライトすれば、ウェブ上のYour Highlights で一覧可能。そこからgoogleなどで検索すれば、曲名も人名もほぼ瞬間的にできます。コピペも可能。たとえば、 when the Beatles couldn’t get a contract, record company signings followed the pattern established over many years. Philips snapped up a Canadian singing wrestler, Frankie Townsend, and a middle-aged London housewife singer, Mary May; Oriole signed a singing builder’s labourer they renamed Brett Ansell; 以下略(p612の脚注）　こんな泡沫シンガーたちも、すぐに検索できるわけです。

Over the years I have read more books about the Beatles than I care to admit to and they vary in quality from pretty good to absolutely terrible. However, when Mark Lewisohn announced that he would be writing the `definitive' biography of the band, fans believed him. Lewisohn is not only THE Beatles expert, but he is also someone who has an obvious love for them. In other words, he is also a fan and the little details, which intrigue us, also interest him.This first volume looks at their family history and childhood, then splits into five chapters; taking detailed looks at the years 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961 and 1962. From the first, two things become abundantly clear - that the author understands the relationship between John and Paul and that he is keen to debunk myths that have become almost accepted - especially ones built around John's childhood. Yes, his childhood was difficult, but films such as "Nowhere Boy" have created a totally fictional account of what happened and even recent books, such as "When They Were Boys" by Larry Kane, simply repeats them. Stories of Mimi dodging bombs to visit the baby John in hospital or John's mother and father forcing him to choose between them in an emotional `tug of love' are just that - stories. Mimi also gets a much more sympathetic portrayal and we learn how, rather than trying to keep John's father away from him, she even allowed him to write to his son from prison. They may have lost touch, but it was certainly not Mimi's fault that they did.Having established that he wants to tell the story as the truth, Mark Lewisohn is certainly not portraying the band in a better light, or concealing their flaws. They were young boys at this time, each with their own character traits and faults, as everyone has. He also ties in what was happening to other people who enter the story at a later date - Brian Epstein, George Martin and other musicians are there, sometimes almost within touching distance, but their paths not quite intersecting. Most interestingly for fans, he has tracked down people that have simply not been heard from before - school friends, those who worked with them in early jobs, fans, people who were there but have not been considered perhaps important enough to be interviewed before - as well as the more obvious characters in the Beatles story.This, then, is the complete timeline of those early years - the founding of the Quarrymen, John and Paul meeting at the St Peter's Fete, George joining the band, Ringo becoming part of Rory and the Hurricanes, early auditions, success and failure, and of that first trip to Hamburg, which honed their sound and changed them into a band - even if they were always, "John, Paul, George and a drummer" at this stage. Lewisohn is not afraid to state what most fans have always known - that Pete Best was asked to go to Hamburg simply because they needed a drummer in order to fulfil the contract and that, almost from the point the poor man packed his kit into Allan Williams van, he was on borrowed time as a member and certainly never a Beatle.Returning to Liverpool, there is the show at Litherland Town Hall which showcased how good they had become, as the Liverpool scene took off and the Beatles - sneered at before leaving - were undoubtedly now the top band in the city. They were the Kings of Liverpool but, as always, wanted more. Enter Brian Epstein, who Bob Wooler remarks, came to the Cavern to watch them - "he came, he saw and he was conquered." There follows the long road towards a recording contract, a changing image with the arrival of suits, the death of Stuart Sutcliffe and the beginning of George, in particular, conspiring to get Ringo in the band. It was also the beginning of girls hanging around their houses, which would never stop from that point on.With the Beatles finally achieving that recording contract, it was essential to change drummers. They were then no longer "John, Paul, George and a drummer" , but changed to "John, Paul, George and Ringo"- four equal members. "Love Me Do" peaked at number 17, but considering the lack of exposure and the resistance to the Beatles it was amazing the record ever took off. "So, what's from Liverpool?" sneered Dick James, when George Martin told him about `the boys'. That North-South divide was about to be smashed down, as Merseybeat would explode on a jaded British pop market. If London was uninterested at first, then the US certainly resisted anything from England. However, even they would succumb to the charm, charisma, enthusiasm, energy and talent of the Beatles. For the Beatles itself, it was no surprise. As John Lennon said, they always knew they were "the best" and "it was just a matter of time before everybody else caught on."Sadly, Mark Lewisohn has not yet written the second and third parts of this trilogy, but if they are anything as complete, well written (his dry humour can almost rival the Beatles themselves) and his desire to tell the story as it should be told, then they will be worth waiting for. In the meantime, there is an extended, two volume edition of this book due out soon. I cannot imagine what Lewisohn may have left out, but I am quite sure that I will enjoy reading it to find out. This book has been needed for a long while, it is a triumph and I am sure it will become the definitive biography of the Beatles.

This is a masterwork. A mighty tome. I bought the Kindle version because of the sheer size of it.The author is well respected and to many the ultimate source of the Beatles' history. I'm sure some super sleuths Beatle fans will find the odd error in this. However it is the best book of the pre Fab Four that I've read. It covers a lot of the minutiae from the birth of each member right up to the precipice of the success of their first LP. The details that are gone into are quite stunning and often mundane. But those daily occurrences are what makes a life.The book also chronicles a lot of the social history of the port city of Liverpool with its links to the shipping, cotton and the slave trade. The changes that are wrought in the North of England by the waves of immigration are well described. The city had huge ups and downs due to the impact of the industrial revolution and devastation of two world wars. A poignant reminder of what it's citizens lived through - the bombings, deaths and the destruction of swathes of their beloved city.Into this world were born John, Paul, George and Ringo. Each of their individual family histories are interwoven into the story. Although many of the tales of when they each met, or were brought into the fold, are ostensibly well known this book adds context. Common to many cities were the gangs and trouble makers that frequented its streets. Lennon's bravura display in such circumstances is understandable.After reading this it's plain to see that the band had a chequered history. Their various incarnations were often derided as musically hopeless, unprofessional and not to be trusted - in many ways the band least likely to, "make it big." Quite an eye opener for anyone who thinks the Beatles were an overnight success. The book is particularly enlightening on the description of their Hamburg trips which, although shambolic, were instrumental in making them a solid outfit.The portraits of the personalities of each Beatle is interesting, particularly as they are here compared side by side. The reader can easily see the influences that played upon each of them and the impact of the arrival of Elvis. The stages of their development, the difficulties that previous managers' had in organising them are all well researched and described. The constantly changing personnel, band name changes, fall outs only add to the drama of how they ever achieved anything.The fateful alignment of important people - Brian Epstein, George Martyn, the publishing companies and of course many other individuals, plus an explanation of their roles and why they became involved - breaks with the accepted norms of the mythology of the Beatles.An excellent book that's choc full of information with referenced sources throughout and great photos (on a Kindle Fire that is). It just be pretty damn near the difinitive book on the early years.Looking forward to the next two books.